My dog's on chicken & rice. Can I switch to beef due to allergies?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Unfortunately, Nikki's itching is more likely to be related to environmental allergies than food allergies. Environmental allergies are usually to things like grass, pollen, trees, etc - all the same stuff humans are allergic to. And these allergies can appear at any age. If benedryl helps, it is considered quite safe to use long term for most dogs (talk with your vet first). If you are trying to avoid medicaitons and side effects, talk with your vet about the cytopoint injection. It is not a medication or drug- it is actually just a protein that blocks the itch receptor and is considered very safe. It lasts 1-2 months in most dogs. If it works for Nikki, it also shows that her allergies are environmental in nature (that shot does not work well for food allergies). There are also many great sprays, mousses, and foot soaks that may help - talk to your vet about these options. Getting back to the food situation, if you have any concerns about the safety of the food, I definitely recommend switching. Though I will say I have several patients on Core Wellness doing fantastic as far as I can tell. For allergic dogs, I do like to avoid the common allergens which are chicken, pork, and beef (it's almost never grains). So sticking with fish or a more "novel" protein like lamb, kangaroo, or rabbit may help. hope this helps and best wishes to you and Nikki!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Poor Bastiann! If Bastian has food allergies then he should avoid chicken. I am suspicious that is the case because rice with fish is an odd bland diet for your Vet to recommend. You could try boiled hamburger, pork, or turkey. If you know someone who hunts you can try venison or bison. Just be sure to get all the fat off of it. I would avoid organ meat. If Bastian doesn't have a food allergy or inflammatory bowel disease I see no reason why you can't boil chicken breast. Also try some meat flavored baby foods to mix in to entice him. I hope this helps and I wish Bastian a speedy recovery!

Home prepared diets can be very difficult to balance long term and I strongly recommend a consult with a specialist nutritionist such as through tuft clinical nutrition unit in order to ensure he is receiving all of the trace elements, vitamins, minerals and energy he requires. In food sensitivities, a hydrolyzed diet such as royal canin hypoallergenic can be very effective also. Chicken and rice is a very bland and effective diet in the short to medium term but would need supplemental feeding in the long term

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is not so much about the amount of protein per se but more so the right protein. It is a matter of using a new protein and carbohydrate that he may tolerate better. For example, if he is on chicken and rice, switch him to lamb and potato for instance. Another option is a hydrolized protein diet and finally something like Royal canin low fat GI. That is actually what my dog is on who also has severe food allergies and he does great. Good luck!

Dogs are omnivores and can get enough nutrition from a balanced commercial vegetarian food. If you would like to try a meat diet, you could consider a novel protein diet. A novel protein is one that Buddy hasn't eaten before. You could consider venison, bison, fish or duck. Natural Balance makes a number of limited ingredient diets that you could consider. https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/special-category-limited-ingredient-diets Another option would be to try a hydrolyzed diet. Those would be prescription only and would be more expensive, but might be a good option as well. I am attaching a handout with more information about diet trials for food allergies below. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952600 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

There is a good chance she has an absorption problem, preventing her from eating her regular dog kibble. Some possible causes of this are intestinal masses, a pancreas problem, or a lymphatic issues just to name a few. I would consider placing her on an easily digestible vet approved food such as Royal Canin Ultamino, Royal canin vegetarian or Hill's Z/D. The hamburger and rice can be continued if you also add in vegetables to make it a well balance nutritional diet. Here is a website link with free recipes you can try to start off. www.balance-it.com Best wishes getting tot he root of Bell's problem. If she doesn't seem to be resolving, or if you want more information on her GI tract, then its best to schedule an abdominal ultrasound soon. Best wishes sorting through things with Bella. I hope she stops her vomiting episodes soon.

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would just transition to the new food that is not chicken based right away. There is no need to transition slowly to prevent vomiting since he already vomits on the original diet. I would start a new diet with a different meat protein such as salmon, venison, rabbit, etc. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!